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16/03/06 - The news is that renters are back with a vengeance.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) says its members have been reporting record letting figures over the past six months. The revival, says ARLA, is down to the recovery of stocks and shares, a high-performing City with record bonuses and a national resurgence of market confidence.

Figures from the Government's 2004-2005 Housing Survey show that more under-30s are renting than buying and that the average age of the first-time buyer has risen from 32 to 34 in the past 10 years. "Many under-35s who work in the City or Nottingham, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Liverpool favour renting over owning as it gives them the flexibility to move with their jobs. They rent city centre new-builds that are next to stations and all utilities and don't involve any time-consuming DIY. If they want quality of life they'll rent a cottage on the city outskirts,� says Matthew Hobbs, London letting director at Savills.

However the latest fashion in the rental sector is to test-drive a new area. Couples in their thirties and forties with young children like to try out an area for a year or two before making a decision about whether to settle there, says Hobbs.

"Some use the time to save up to buy a house, although many are content to carry on renting if the area has good transport connections, parking spaces, and a third bedroom that can double as a study if they want to work from home," he says.

Not everyone rents out of choice however. Divorcees and separating partners literally have letting thrust upon them. Some letting agents have even found themselves doubling as marriage counsellors. "When a partner who has obviously been part of a marriage break-up comes in we have to be very sympathetic listeners although we are careful not to take sides. The busiest time is around Christmas when the rows get bigger and people suddenly decide they want to declare time on their marriage and no longer live together," says Caroline Cope, a partner at Henley-based Simmons & Sons.

If young children are involved, it's usually the mother who stays in the family home so she can continue looking after them while the husband rents nearby. Nottingham letting agent Spencer Birch says at least 20 per cent of its business comes from broken marriages or splitting partners.

"Partners in older marriages tend to rent suburban semis or town houses," says Joseph Harwood, Spencer Birch's letting manager, "while members of the younger set prefer city-centre apartments so they can go out on the town and start dating again.

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